If I were a more religious person, I might explain it by saying that the Devil is throwing at me difficulty to stop me from my life's current upward climb (inch-by-inch though it is, blood- and sweat- and tear-stained though it is). But I'm not a more religious person, so I don't favor that explanation. However, I do find quite amusing the fact that, when life decides to hit me in the back with a baseball bat (without nails in it), it at least does so in an ironic fashion.

So today I went out to my car in order to enter said vehicle and, through proper operation, to convey myself to my place of employment. I got out there and placed the key in the door, and, upon turning it, found that there was no resistance of the sort I would expect were the door locked.
Opening the door, my eyes first fell upon the lock tab of my door, which was, of course, in the "unlocked" position. That's odd, I thought. I could have sworn I locked my car last night.

Then my gaze turned to the messy pile of things in my passenger-side seat. That's odd, I thought. I could have sworn I had left those in an orderly fashion.

Then, at last, my gaze turned to the gaping hole in my vehicle's center dash console. That's odd, I thought. I could have sworn I didn't tear out my stereo leaving wires hanging out of there.

Of course, the reality quickly set in: my car had been burgled. Or, to be entirely accurate, my car had been burgled again. It's annoying as heck. A new stereo is going to set me back a few hundred dollars, and until I get it installed I won't have any music in my car. Plus, the Bad Guy, who was actually conscientious enough not to rip out the console entirely and strip down my steering shaft in what I assume was an attempt to hotwire my car as happened the last time my car was burgled, stole my few CDs and, most annoyingly, a $25 gift card I had been given at work on Friday in recognition of, basically, being a super bad-ass employee (or, technically, being the top producing employee by a wide margin for roughly six months running).

Curiously, I wasn't too bothered by it. I mean, yes, I'm annoyed. And disappointed that somebody would do this. But, in addition to being unsurprised, I have failed to thus far really be angry about it. It's inconvenient, but I refuse to let some sleazebag who was probably trying to get enough money for his next fix dictate my happiness. I sure hope a stereo which'll probably sell for under a hundred dollars, a handful of self-burned CDs, and a $25 Target gift card were worth that bit of your soul, pally.

The thing that I find funny about this, though, is the timing. Yesterday, the day when we celebrate the nation's birth, was the day I was robbed. It could have been worse - it could have been National Not Robbing Saladin's Car Day (which should frankly be every day, in my opinion) - but the timing was just dynamite. Thanks, Bad Guy!